Things from the underworld must never be kept.
They carry a strong negative energy. If the ghost who places this light bulb has malicious intentions, it may attract many ghosts.
To be honest, Lu Yingjiu rarely saw things from the underworld.
The last time I saw it, it was that little flower from the underworld.
He gently threw out a piece of talisman paper. The talisman paper flexibly wrapped around the outer edge of the light bulb, and suddenly exerted force -
Snap!
The light bulb exploded, shards scattered all over the floor, and the corridor fell into darkness, with only the emergency exit sign in the distance flashing a faint green light.
The negative energy on the light bulb also disappeared.
Lu Yingjiu checked again and again to make sure there was no remaining evil spirit, then pasted two pieces of talisman paper on the door and went into the house.
The cow cat came up and rubbed his legs. Lu Yingjiu fed it cat food and scratched its chin.
Before going to bed, he heated a cup of milk and drank it slowly while reading.
The trees outside the window rustled in the wind, and there was no other sound in the house except for the sound of him flipping through the pages of a book. It was not like when Jing Xian was still here, but there was some movement:
Jingxian might be petting a cat.
Jing Xian might be watering the flowers.
Jing Xian might be drawing talismans to drive away ghosts - the talismans he drew were so horrible and terrible that Lu Yingjiu couldn't bear to look at them a second time.
It was obvious that Lu Yingjiu had been living alone for a long time, and Jing Xian had only been here for a few days. He was inexplicably a little uncomfortable with the sudden silence.
By the time I had finished most of the book, it was already late.
Lu Yingjiu turned off the lights, lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
Somehow, half asleep and half awake, he thought of the light bulb in the underworld again.
… He had a very bad feeling.
The next day, Lu Yingjiu was woken up by his cell phone.
He was still very sleepy, and the phone was buzzing. He felt around the bed with his hand, closed his eyes and answered the phone: "Hello?"
Ye Feng's voice came: "Do you have time today?"
"You have another commission?" Lu Yingjiu yawned, "Are you saying that the matter from yesterday was not resolved?"
"I guess so. I need to go there, so I thought I'd ask if you're free."
Normally, Ye Feng didn't contact him so frequently. Ye Feng was also a formal exorcist, so he wouldn't fail to handle the commission.
Lu Yingjiu could imagine what happened from Ye Feng's perspective: the only intern in his firm ran away because the salary was too low, leaving Lu Yingjiu alone.
Now Ye Feng suddenly wanted to pull him together, probably because he saw Jing Xian had just left and was afraid that he would feel lonely all of a sudden.
Lu Yingjiu got up, went downstairs, and bought bread for breakfast at the convenience store before getting in the car.
When they arrived at the bottom of the residential building, he met up with Ye Feng.
Ye Feng said as he walked up the stairs: "That old lady contacted me again, saying that it sounded like someone was crying in the corridor yesterday midnight, and she suspected that we didn't get rid of the ghost completely - to be honest, if I was alone yesterday, I would really think so. You were there too, so the ghost must be dead."
"The hanged ghost is definitely dead. Maybe a new ghost was attracted by the yin energy." Lu Yingjiu said, "This kind of thing is not uncommon. There was a ghost at the door of my house yesterday."
"In front of your house?" Ye Feng was stunned. "Wouldn't that ghost be reduced to ashes in a minute?"
"I didn't see a ghost, but it left a hellish light bulb."
"Why would someone leave a light bulb?" Ye Feng was amused. "It can't be that this is an electrician who turned into a ghost. This guy is too dedicated. He just happened to replace the broken light bulb."
When they arrived at the old lady's house, they listened to her describing the grand occasion of last night with exaggerations.
"You didn't hear the crying. It was so scary." The old lady shook her head while fanning herself with a small fan. "It was just like a little kid crying."
Lu Yingjiu asked: "The crying you heard, was it coming from upstairs or downstairs?"
The old lady thought for a long time, her face wrinkled. "I didn't hear it clearly, it felt like the whole corridor was full of it. If you really want me to say, it might have come from above."
So Lu Yingjiu and Ye Feng started from this floor and slowly searched up.
It was morning, and the bright sunshine was cut into six pieces by the iron fence and fell on their feet. There was a festive couplet on the door, one side read "Flowers bloom and wealth comes", and the other side read "Five blessings come to the door". The leaves outside rustled, giving a sense of the peaceful years.
They walked one after the other.
When we reached the 7th floor, the white walls of the stairwell were covered with graffiti.
There were little people, houses, chimneys, and ships drawn on it with a ballpoint pen... It was obvious that it was done by a child.
Ye Feng muttered: "Whose naughty kid is this? He has no manners."
Lu Yingjiu remained silent, looking at the graffiti.
After a few seconds, he said, "Stand further away and see if these lines look like a human face."
Ye Feng took a few steps back, trying to ignore those obvious patterns, and looked at it with a vague gaze—
Sure enough, it was barely possible to make out that it was a crying human face.
He felt his back creeping up on him, so he took out the talisman paper he had prepared and pasted it on the four corners of the white wall.
The talisman paper is burning.
All I heard was a very sharp cry, echoing in the corridor!
Just as the old lady said, it was the sound of a baby crying.
"Pah, pah!"
"Pah, pah!"
There was a noise from downstairs, like a child crawling on his hands and knees.
Ye Feng was just about to ask for help and rush down when he saw Lu Yingjiu beside him holding the railing with one hand, flipping over lightly and going all the way down.
The stairs passed under his feet, and he soon saw spots of blood on the stairs, which looked like the handprints of a baby crawling over them.
He came to the same floor as before.
The door of the old lady's house was wide open, and a baby with blood on his hands was crawling towards her house!
The baby's face was blue, and he looked dead. Sharp teeth were faintly visible in his mouth. If he bit it lightly, he might even pierce his arteries.
The old lady came to the door when she heard the sound.
The dead baby pounced on the old lady.
Just as Lu Yingjiu was about to fly the talisman in his hand, the old lady grabbed it and held it tightly in her arms, coaxing, "Okay, okay, baby, don't cry, grandma is here!" Then she turned around and stopped the dead baby behind her, looking at Lu and Ye vigilantly, "Didn't I ask you to come and exorcise the ghost? Why did you make my good grandson cry? Leave quickly! If you don't leave, I will complain to you!"
Ye Feng also rushed down and was stunned for a moment when he saw this scene.
Then he understood everything and felt sad.
This old lady, who refuses to accept that her grandson is dead, is deceiving herself.
Seeing that they didn't move, the old lady shouted in a timid voice: "You won't leave?! Call the police! I want to call the police!" Then she took out her cell phone.
She failed and screamed instead.
A thumb-sized paper figurine had slipped into her pocket at some point, carrying a cell phone and running lightly, then returned to Lu Yingjiu's feet, jumping and skipping.
Lu Yingjiu took the phone and slowly walked towards the old lady. The old lady was so scared that she huddled in a corner, holding the child tightly.
Lu Yingjiu said in a calm tone: "Take a closer look at its face."
There were corpse spots all over it.
The old lady pursed her lips tightly and refused to move.
The dead baby was in her arms, grinning at Lu Yingjiu. Her sharp nails scratched the old lady's arm, and blood flowed - but she seemed not to feel the pain at all.
Lu Yingjiu sighed silently.
The talisman flew out of his hand and accurately stuck to the dead baby's forehead amid the old lady's scream.
In a flash, the baby's body fell apart, turned into ashes, and floated in the air. The old lady tried to reach out and catch it, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch even a speck of dust.
She stood there blankly for a long time, and then sat down as if she had lost her strength.
—She remembered it all.
Lu Yingjiu helped her up, and Ye Feng promptly pulled over a chair for her to sit on.
With Ye Feng's comfort, the old lady slowly calmed down. She looked like she was ten years older and kept wiping away tears.
Lu Yingjiu said: "It is indeed difficult to accept death. I have experienced this feeling myself. My condolences."
He took out a peace amulet from the talisman paper he carried with him, put it into a brocade bag, and hung it at the door of the old lady's house.
The sachet smells sweet and sways gently in the wind.
Ye Feng came over and whispered to Lu Yingjiu, "I'll talk to the people at the meeting."
The Qingdeng Society also has a position similar to a psychological counselor, who is specifically responsible for calming the emotions of the person involved.
Lu Yingjiu nodded.
Once people arrive, they will have nothing to do.
Before the two left, they heard mournful crying.
Although they have been exorcising ghosts for many years and have witnessed many tragedies, their emotions have become numb, but every time something like this happens, their hearts are still touched.
Ye Feng rubbed his face hard in the passenger seat and said, "Oh, let's not think about this anymore. Let's go eat."
"Yeah." Lu Yingjiu nodded.
The sun was shining brightly all the way, and the atmosphere became much better under the warmth of the sun.
Ye Feng drove slowly, and Lu Yingjiu also leaned back in the seat and took a nap.
Ye Feng said as he drove: "By the way, I might have to go to Yueshan Village once in the next few days."
"What are you going there for?"
"Didn't my second master manage the sanatorium there before? The village chief called me yesterday and said that my second master had some belongings left in the warehouse and they found them, so he asked me to go back and get them."
"Your second grandfather..." Lu Yingjiu frowned.
He wasn't very impressed.
The traffic light turned red and the car just stopped.
"His name is Ye Deyong, I've shown you his photo! Let me look for it." Ye Feng searched every pocket and finally found his wallet. He opened it and said, "I always carry photos with me..."
He paused.
Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a long time, Lu Yingjiu glanced at him.
In the old photo, Ye Feng was still a little kid, with a man with half-white hair and a white coat holding his hand. The background was endless mountains and the white exterior wall of the sanatorium.
As soon as he saw it, he had an impression: Ye Feng had indeed shown him this photo.
But now Ye Feng's pupils shrank, as if he saw something incredible in the photo.
He said, "Lu Yingjiu, look at this." He pointed at Ye Deyong's neck, "Why do I feel like something is pinching him?"
Lu Yingjiu took a closer look.
As expected, a very light black spot was seen on Ye Deyong's neck. The black was so inconspicuous that if Ye Feng was not too familiar with the photo, he would not have been able to see it.
The black color almost wrapped around Ye Deyong's neck like a terrifying rope.
In Lu Ying's memory, the two of them looked very relaxed in the photo. But now, Ye Deyong's facial muscles were tense and his face was blue, as if he was in some kind of pain.
The traffic light turned green and the traffic behind me started honking.
Lu Yingjiu parked the car in a parking space on the side of the road.
Ye Feng still stared at the photo.
He murmured, "It seems I have to go somewhere..."
…
Lu Yingjiu went home.
He plans to go to Yueshan Village with Ye Feng tomorrow afternoon and will start packing his luggage tonight.
"Ding—" the elevator arrived.
He walked towards the door of his house and stopped.
The light in front of his front door was very bright, with a brand new light bulb that was incredibly bright.
After a careful inspection, the talisman paper pasted on the door was also intact.
At this moment, Lu Yingjiu actually doubted his ability in exorcising ghosts.
—How come I met such a powerful ghost again
And this ghost style...
Lu Yingjiu frowned and threw out another piece of talisman paper, crushing the light bulb.
The corridor returned to darkness.
This time he densely pasted talisman papers on the wall, forming a tight net that was enough to keep ghosts and monsters from escaping.
The next morning, the first thing he did after getting up was to open the door.
The light bulb was replaced, and the talisman paper on the wall was not damaged.
Lu Yingjiu: “…?”
He stood under the light bulb, feeling really confused.
The talisman paper was thrown out and the fragments of the light bulb were scattered all over the ground.
He kicked the fragments to the side of the corridor and pressed the elevator button: he had a package delivered to the downstairs, and the top was made of newly bought paper, which he could draw talismans on after cutting.
When he went downstairs to get the package, he felt the faint vibration of the talisman paper on the package box.
Turning the package over, I saw a small rune at the bottom: flowing clouds and mountains, a talisman for peace.
This rune is printed and is not very useful. The seller must know a little about exorcism, as he printed it on every package.
Lu Yingjiu stared at the amulet for a few seconds.
He remembered that he had given the old lady a peace amulet yesterday.
He said at the time: "It is indeed difficult to accept death. I have experienced this feeling myself."
This sentence is not just to comfort people.
Looking at the white-haired elder in front of him, he did think of the past.
When Zhuang Xue passed away, he couldn't believe it.
The person who was arranging flowers in the morning was left with only a cold body by the evening.
Lu Yingjiu had been depressed for quite a long time, and always thought that if he learned the art of exorcism well, he could bring back Zhuang Xue's soul. But the harder he tried, the more he knew it was impossible, and his efforts only brought him despair.
At that time, Lu Yingjiu already knew Ye Feng.
Ye Feng is one year older than him. He did not go to high school, but followed the Ye family to learn exorcism. He usually hangs out around the block and can sleep until noon.
During that time, Ye Feng was really afraid that Lu Yingjiu would be upset, so he set an alarm every day and went to his house early in the morning to call him to go to school. After school, he would come to find him, hang out, eat, and chat. In short, he would not let Lu Yingjiu be alone and would always find something for him to do.
It took a long, long time for Lu Yingjiu to calmly accept the fact:
Once dead, there is no resurrection; everything is predetermined by fate.
He has no other relatives in this world.
Zhuang Xue died in a car accident. On the handlebars of her bicycle, there was a peace amulet painted by Lu Yingjiu hanging.
Lu Yingjiu is a very rational person and would not attribute Zhuang Xue's death to "I didn't draw the talisman paper well enough". Things are unpredictable, and a talisman can't stop death even if it is drawn by the gods.
After that, he devoted countless days and nights, and from then on, the amulets he drew became the best in the world.
Thinking back on this now, it seems like a lifetime ago.
Lu Yingjiu smiled silently, picked up the package, went back upstairs, and prepared to wait for Ye Feng to come and pick him up.
When he reached the door of his house, he stopped again.
There was another perfectly good light bulb in front of me.
Lu Yingjiu thought that he had experienced a lot of strange things since he was a child.
He had really never seen it before. There was a hellish light bulb at the door. Every time it broke, he would fix it immediately!
Lu Yingjiu was extremely confused.
In this confusion, my intuition was calling out. Just like when anime characters think things through, a white line flashes behind their heads—
Now, there is such a white line behind his head!
This, this is definitely a courtesy!
There's no way any other ghost could have done this!
The dead cannot be resurrected, time cannot be reversed, and water once poured out cannot be brought back.
The thing is that Jing Xian who was driven away can fly back by himself like a boomerang, quickly and conveniently, and is very proactive.
Maybe I brought some snacks for him on the way back.
Lu Yingjiu rubbed his brows hard, feeling a terrible headache.
He realized that he could not catch Jing Xian by relying on the talisman paper.
He had been guessing which famous official Jing Xian was, but now it seemed that with Jing Xian's ability, all the famous officials would have to listen to him.
What is this, an official boss
Lu Yingjiu gave up on pasting the rune, broke the light bulb, opened the door directly, moved a chair and sat under the broken light bulb.
The talisman paper can't catch Jingxian.
It can be caught by a light bulb!
A rotten light bulb is the largest and most efficient pest trap available.
Lu Yingjiu was sitting in the corridor.
Sure enough, within ten minutes, a cold wind blew in the corridor, chilling the bones.
The wind blew all the way to the light bulb, blowing up the hair on the way to the wine.
Lu Yingjiu called out, "Come on."
The wind paused for a moment.
At this moment, Lu Yingjiu threw out the talisman paper—
Facts have proved that he has a very good grasp of the timing. When the opponent is caught off guard, the talisman paper takes effect!
I saw Jing Xian standing under the light bulb, replacing it with a new one in one hand.
The two looked at each other.
The surroundings were deathly quiet.
I don't know how long it took, Lu Yingjiu leaned back in the chair comfortably, crossed his fingers and said, "Come on, explain it to me."
Jing Xian: “…”
Jing Xian said, "I want to change a light bulb for you, but every time I change it and leave, it gets broken again. The quality of people in the world is too low now."
Lu Yingjiu: “…” He felt like he was being scolded.
Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath and said, "Why are you back again? Didn't I tell you that officials shouldn't come to the mortal world? Go back quickly."
"That won't work." Jing Xian looked at the light bulb, "If we don't change the light bulb, it will be dark and dangerous."
Lu Yingjiu felt his eyebrows jump: "Why did you help me change the light bulb? Or let me change the question, why did you stay by my side? Didn't you tell me that you have no unfulfilled obsessions?"
He really felt that Jing Xian might have some problems with his brain circuits. What was so good about him that Jing Xian insisted on staying in the world of the living
This is the kind of treatment only given to one's wife, right? How could he be so worthy!
Jingxian looked at him.
He didn't know if it was an illusion caused by Lu Ying's drunkenness, but he felt that Jing Xian's ears were a little red.
Lu Yingjiu said, "Why don't you speak?"
Jing Xian: “…”
Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath again: "Jingxian, go back, go back now."
"I won't go back." Jing Xian seemed to have finally made up his mind. He looked at him with sharp eyes, pulled his hand, and said with all his courage, "Because, because we are husband and wife! How could I leave you alone!!"
Lu Yingjiu: “…?”
Lu Yingjiu: “???”